str.removesuffix()

The .removesuffix() method returns a copy of the string with the suffix removed, if the string actually ends with that suffix. If the suffix is not present, the method returns a copy of the original string unchanged. This method was added in Python 3.9 as part of PEP 616, which introduced complementary methods for removing prefixes and suffixes.

Signature

str.removesuffix(suffix)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
suffix	str	Required	The suffix string to remove from the end

Return Value

Returns a new string with the suffix removed. The original string remains unchanged.

Basic Examples

Remove a matching suffix

text = "HelloWorld"
result = text.removesuffix("World")
print(result)  # Output: Hello

Suffix not present returns unchanged string

text = "PythonProgramming"
result = text.removesuffix("Java")
print(result)  # Output: PythonProgramming

Case-sensitive matching

text = "PythonProgramming"
result = text.removesuffix("programming")
print(result)  # Output: PythonProgramming

Practical Use Cases

Cleaning file extensions

# Remove file extension
filename = "document.pdf"
name = filename.removesuffix(".pdf")
print(name)  # Output: document

Handling version strings

# Remove common suffixes from version identifiers
versions = ["v1.0.0", "v2.1.3-beta", "v3.0.0-rc1"]
for version in versions:
    print(version.removesuffix("-beta").removesuffix("-rc1"))
# Output:
# v1.0.0
# v2.1.3
# v3.0.0

Normalizing identifiers

# Remove common suffixes from database column names
columns = ["users_id", "orders_total", "products_name"]
for col in columns:
    print(col.removesuffix("_id").removesuffix("_total").removesuffix("_name"))
# Output:
# users
# orders
# products

Chaining with other string methods

# Remove suffix then convert to title case
text = "hello_world"
result = text.removesuffix("_world").title()
print(result)  # Output: Hello

Common Patterns

Working with empty suffix

Passing an empty string as the suffix returns a copy of the original string:

text = "Hello"
result = text.removesuffix("")
print(result)  # Output: Hello

This behavior can be useful in generalized string processing functions where the suffix might be optional.

Combining with conditional logic

You can use the method with conditional checks when you need different behavior based on whether the suffix exists:

def process_filename(filename):
    if filename.endswith(".tmp"):
        return filename.removesuffix(".tmp")
    return filename

print(process_filename("data.tmp"))      # Output: data
print(process_filename("important.txt"))  # Output: important.txt

Behavior Notes

• The method is case-sensitive. Use .casefold() or .lower() first if you need case-insensitive suffix removal.
• If the string does not end with the specified suffix, the original string is returned unchanged.
• The method always returns a new string—it never modifies the original in place.
• This method was introduced alongside .removeprefix() in Python 3.9 to provide a cleaner alternative to string slicing for suffix removal.

See Also

• str.strip()
• str.lstrip()
• str.rstrip()